Some advice for the minister

Congratulations to the new minister of fisheries, Derrick Dalley, member for the historic fishing area Twillingate, Fogo, Moreton’s Harbour, all around the circle.

As a longtime advocate for coastal communities in general and inshore fishers in particular, I have some advice for the new minister, which, were he to follow, he’d go down in history as the saviour of outport Newfoundland and small boat fishers.

My advice? Listen closely to the lobbying of the association of seafood producers and corporations, from individuals inside and outside of government circles, and then proceed to implement the exact opposite of their requests.

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Watthe Hell are you promoting A Business Man, in my mind ity is Pure Corruption

October 30, 2012 - 08:40

TO A Business Man:
Newfoundland and Labrador's natural resources belong to Newfoundland and Labrador and its people, not to the politicians, the business men/women, China or any place else. Nature endowed those resources to our landmass and the developent of them should be negotiated to create the maximum economy for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. If the Chinese or any other nationality want to work our resources let them emigrate to Newfoundland and Labrador. NO MORE GIVEAWAYS for the benefit of present politicians, former politicians, business men or women, our natural resources are there for the benefit of our population to make them economically strong. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PROMOTING A BUSINESS MAN, you are the epitome of the Global Free Trade Movement where areas like Newfoundland and Labrador have their natural resources stolen so that a few like you ca prosper economically and live the good life

Thank you for your response. You said it perfectly with "Newfoundland and Labrador's natural resources belong to Newfoundland and Labrador and its people". As I have said before, I am a citizen and taxpayer. SO, the resources are as much mine as they are yours. I am not saying that we should do what is best for me because I am special. Rather, I am saying that we should do what is best for newfoundland as a whole. As a citizen, I argue that it is better to allow the fish to be exported unprocessed if we can charge a royalty on the exports. I am saying that royalties for ALL of us is better than jobs in the fishery. I am saying that royalties that can be used on health care is better than preserving fishery jobs. I am also saying that I am best served with the fish being processed in China, because China is my largest customer. I am also saying that if giving the fish to China allows CANADIANS to get cheaper goods, then I am all for that too. Overall, I am saying that a local fishery ONLY benefits the local fishery workers, whereas using the fishery to promote international trade and generate royalty revenue for services that WE ALL us. Make no mistake, I want newfoundland to benefit, but in a way that benefits everyone, not just the fishermen. I think royalties benefit everyone, and I think international trade gives us ALL cheaper goods. The fishery, well most of us get nothing from it. That has to change. This is not about the rich getting richer, it is about finding away to give the benefits of the fish to everyone, even if a small number of people (the fishery workers) suffer. The times when only the fishery workers get a benefit from the fishery must end. The rest of us deserve some benefit from the resource too, or am I wrong about that?

a business man

October 29, 2012 - 18:09

I just read some the post questioning what are the benefits of allowing China to process the fish. Well, from my point of view, I would rather have the fish processed in China. The reason is simple. I sell hundreds of products to newfoundland consumers, and I sell MILLION of products to customers in China. Therefore, I make more money from my customers in China, so they are more important to me. As a taxpayer and citizen, I too have the right to demand what is best for me, and like it or not, having the fish processed in China instead of newfoundland is better for me because it allows my largest consumer base to grow. I am not trying to insult anyone with this post, but rather am just trying to point out that as a newfoundland taxpayer and citizen, I am best served with the fish being processed in China. We all want what is best for our families, and in this case, many of us want different things. may the interests of the majority prevail

What benefit is in it in giving away Newfoundland and Labrador's rich resurce base for the benefit of other parts of Canada and the Word

October 29, 2012 - 16:13

I heard a former Ottawa MP from Newfoundland and Labrador say if we don't catch the fish, others will be wanting the quotas that is left in the water. I want to ask the question "What benefit is in it for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in giving away their natural resources'? Also what is up with the politicians we elect, it seems they are so inept in negoitating and drawing up contracts for the benefit of all, OUR NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ONLY SEEM TO BENEFIT THEM. It seems that they can only do so by giving the resources away in the raw state, which, of course, means the processing jobs go along, as well. Why do our politicians say if we don't harvest the fish quotas allotted to us somebody else will get them? If we cannot get the price that is needed to suffice, well then leave the fish in the water and let the fish multiply. If we don't catch the fish why does Ottawa have the right to give away that fish quotas to some other country for the sake of securing International Trade contracts for Canadian Manufactured and Agriculture goods? I don't believe Ottawa has that right AND I don't believe one word our politicians tell us about the development of our natural resources. THEY are ONLY mindful of drawing up contracts to benefit themselves personally AND NOT for the benefit of the whole province. This Corruption has to stop and we, the electorate have to make it happen, it won't happen unless we all sing out in unison against the evils that have been perpetrated on the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and its people by those politicians they elect, with regards to the give-away of their natural resources.

I JUST HEARD THE MOST STUPID NEWS BYTES UTTERED BY FORMER MP BILL MATTHEWS

October 29, 2012 - 12:34

I just heard the most stupid news bytes on VOCM that I ever heard in my entire life. Bill Matthews former MP for Newfoundland and Labrador was taking the side of the Fish Processors because he said they can process their fish in China at a small fraction of the cost of what they can do it in Newfoundland and Labrador. Does Mr. Matthews think that Newfoundland and Labrador's natural resources should be used by politicians and their business acquaintances to make THEM rich and deprive the ordinary citizen of Newfoundland and Labrador, to whom the natural resources belong, impoverised because the jobs are all shipped off to China in the name of raw resources, which are being shipped out? Is Mr. Matthews living in the real World, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are not living in China where the cost of living is relative to what their earnings are, China is a Socialist or Communist Country, it has a far different political and economic system than what Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are subjected to. The cost of living in Newfoundland and Labrador is far more expensive than China and, the principal question that needs to be asked again, who gives politicians and their business friends the right to avail of our natural resource base in order for them to become rich and impoverish the people of Newfoundland and Labrador? Something is drastically wrong with this picture and as far as I can see it is the Global Free Trade Movement. It has to be brought to its heels and we need to do it now since Newfoundland and Labrador is tied up in knots with this Movement. Our politicians are developing our natural resources left, right and center and everything is being shipped off to other places of Canada and the World and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, are dying on the Canadian economic vine. POLITICIANS, PLEASE STOP THIS CORRUPTION AND STOP IT NOW. It is time for you to wake up Newfoundlanders and Labradorians we are again commiting economic suicide by being SILENT and accepting the crumbs that are being thrown to us by our politicians!

Minister Dalley please do what is right for Newfoundland and Labrador in your portfolio as Fisneries Minister

October 28, 2012 - 15:43

David Boyd, Thanks for saying what was needed to be said to the Fisheries' Minister. Every Minister we have had so far has worked for The Fish Processors/Fish Corporations and Ottawa, and not for the ordinary fisher who they were supposed to looking after in the first place. Mr. Dalley has now a direct suggestion posed to him by Mr. Boyd on how to behave in the Fisheries Portfolio he has been appointed to. He has to do what is right for the owners of the Fish Resource, the electorate, or in other words the masses and not the Fish Processors/Corporations and for Ottawa who acts on behalf of its own interest for the sake of having control over the fishery to conduct International Trade, while allowing the big fish processors and corporations to have their way so that they will toe the Ottawa line. We do not want the fishery in the hands of a few, we want those who have toiled at that industry for years, the masses, to have the right to toil at it forever.

I am a newfoundland citizen and taxpayer, and I support using the fishery to conduct international trade. As a citizen, I get nothing from the fishery, but my entire business model and my investments are all based on international trade. As far as I am concerned, using the fish resource to conduct international trade IS in the interests of the electorate, and having a local fishery only benefits the fishermen. So I support cutting out the fishermen so that we ALL can benefit from international trade. As a result, I support giving the fishery to the corporations.

Jerry Curl

October 27, 2012 - 18:19

...And don't be a lobbiest for OCI like darinit king became, because if we don't break the strangle hold OCI has our provinces natural resources, we'll be paying them to ship it to china...just like mrf!